PORABLES · STORY #002
Porable #002: The Job That Began with a Rejection
One rejection. One unexpected possibility.
“You need experience.”
She stared at the latest rejection.
“How do I get experience if nobody lets me work?”
Then a ridiculous thought crossed her mind.
“What if the company that rejected me became my first client?”
She reopened the email. It came from a small furniture business looking for someone to handle customer communications.
Instead of sending another request for a chance, she visited its website.
Delivery times were unclear. Assembly instructions were difficult to find. The returns page contradicted the FAQ.
She drafted a clearer version of one page using only information already available on the site. Wherever the details were uncertain, she added a question rather than inventing an answer.
Then she wrote to the owner.
“Thank you for considering my application. While exploring your website, I noticed a few places where customers might get confused. I’ve attached one sample rewrite. Would a small, paid project to improve these pages be useful?”
The owner replied the next morning.
“We’ve been answering these questions on the phone every day. What would you charge?”
They agreed on a fee, a deadline and five pages.
Two weeks later, Meera had her first payment, a completed project and permission to use it in her portfolio.
When the next application asked for experience, she finally had something to put in the box.
An original fictional Porable inspired by Edward de Bono’s PO method.
